Beanie Feldstein Becomes a Punk Rock Critic in 'How to Build a Girl'

Film inspired by the life of writer Caitlin Moran hits digital on May 8

Beanie Feldstein undergoes a complete transformation in her new film “How to Build a Girl,” and it’s not just because her character sports a British accent.

The first trailer for “How to Build a Girl,” an indie comedy starring Feldstein that premiered at TIFF last year, shows a nerdy, mopey teenage writer who finds success, fame and notoriety when she reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde, a flamboyant and colorful punk rock critic. She becomes sucked into the world of the ’90s rock scene and has to contend with the existential question of whether she wants to become this person or she needs to start all over again.

“Last night, rock and roll meant nothing to me. By midnight tonight, it was the most important thing in the world,” she says in the trailer while at a rambunctious show. “These are the places where you can come and dance and scream and be with your own kind, where everything is possible.”

Dolly Wilde’s story is inspired by the life of Caitlin Moran, who wrote a semi-autobiographical novel of the same name about growing up in Wolverhampton and finding her way into the world of music and rock and roll criticism when she was just a teenager. When Moran and Feldstein spoke to TheWrap at TIFF, they called the film directed by Coky Giedroyc, “basically a documentary, with a bit more singing in it,” and says that 90 percent of the things that happen in the film were real.

“How to Build a Girl” also stars Emma Thompson, Chris O’Dowd, Jameela Jamil and Alfie Allen, who plays a larger-than-life rock star who comes into orbit with Feldstein’s character through her transformation.

“How to Build a Girl” debuts on VOD from IFC Films on May 8. Watch the first trailer for the film above.